Walking

Yesterday I decided to take my Achilles out for a test drive. After about 7 hours of study I desperately needed some fresh air. I strapped up my foot, put my dusty old sneakers on, and took myself out for a 20 minute slow walk.

Can I just say, it felt AMAZING to be out there again! I am lucky that I live in a fairly flat area so don’t have to content with any hills just yet. My Achilles held up well. Towards the end my whole ankle started to ache, but not my Achilles specifically. I would say that was just because it really hasn’t been used in so long.

While it felt good, the real test was going to be how it felt this morning.

It felt fine, so I took myself out for another slow 20 minute walk. Wow it feels good to be out there doing some light exercise again. I will definitely be taking it easy while I get my strength back, but I am feeling really confident that I am now in the end stages of the recovery process.

xox

Junk Food

Quote of the Day

Why not go out on a limb? Isn't that where the fruit is?
            -- Frank Scully

My house is currently filled with junk food. There was so much leftover food from Saturday night it is ridiculous. A lot of it is stuff I don't like or am not overly fussed about, but some of it is stuff I LOVE....  Ross and my MIL are under strict instructions to eat that stuff asap.  I don't want it anywhere near me.  Last night I got stuck into the Smarties...  Oh how I love Smarties...

I have asked them to eat certain things today or else hide whatever is left and to tell me they ate it.  I just don't want to know.  I am doing so well with my food at work.  But I get home and it all falls to hell in a hand basket...  Not good.

However I am back on the bike this week and loving it.  My butt is sore though.  My Achilles was holding up really well, but this morning I stopped suddenly and put my foot down hard and now it is swollen. I don't have an ice pack at work (need to fix that) so have taken some anti-inflammatories and hopefully it settles down.  I actually hate taking them. but I know that they do help.

If it is feeling okay tonight I am going to try a Body Balance class. I have wanted to do Yoga for ages, but I am assured that this is better for a beginner, so I am going to give it a go.  I'll let you know how it goes.

100 Days of Gratitude - Day 22

Today I am grateful for good advice. I love that other peoples knowledge and wisdom can have a positive effect on anothers life.

xox

Oh Dear...

But before we get to that....  I had a really good day yesterday.  I got to sleep in and got up at 7.30.  Now for most, that doesn't sound like a sleep in, but for me, that is bliss.  I went for a walk to get my morning Iced Coffee then came home and realised I had a whole day ahead of me with absolutely no plans.  Oh, what to do...

I spent some time with my Tarot Cards.  I drew a 3 card spread, studied the cards that came out, then once I had them right in my head did a reading of the cards.  It was fun. 

Then I made a little pillow, watched some TV, had some lunch, surfed the Net, did some shopping, and saw this amazing double rainbow.  It was so beautiful.

Now for the Oh Dear...

Over the weekend, I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror, sitting down.  It's back.  It's nearly all back.  All that weight I worked so had to move, it looks like it's nearly all back.  Time to get on the scales.  The scales were not as high as I expected, but they were too high.  And I look terrible....  It is not my highest weight - thankfully - and it is not back to where I was at the beginning of the year..  But it is way way way too high.

The problem is, I can't count calories again.  I hate it.  It sucks.  But it works.  Plus I love cooking lots of different things, and my MIL cooks a few nights a week, it is too hard.

So I have come to a compromise for myself.  I will count calories until 5pm.  I will allow myself half of my daily allowance until then.  After that I can eat whatever I want for dinner.  There will be no chocolate afterwards, no desserts (most of the time), no junk food.  But whatever I eat for dinner is allowed and free. 

I am going to up my exercise.  Back to the running.  Riding to work.  Taking the long way home.  I'm going to start yoga next weekend.  Even thinking about going back to the - gulp - gym....

I will give this a month.  If I don't shift anything I will reassess, but I HAVE to do something.  As much as I hate it, my body is becoming uncomfortable again.  I need my body to be healthy so that I can be healthy in all aspects of myself.

xox

She-Wee

Last night I finally got my She-Wee.  What is a She-Wee I hear you ask?  Well, a She-Wee is a "portable urinating device for women". 

I got it for long rides in the country and for when we hike the Heyson Trail in October.  The idea is you can pee standing up like boys.  One of the guys in my office called it a Girlie Doodle.  It is a very bizarre little contraption, and I believe I will need to practice with it before I go...  I will keep you updated!

I have been think a lot about my fitness and how far I have come in the last 3 months.  Once the MDC is over I don't want that to stop.  I am enjoying my new found fitness and energy levels and want to continue to improve on that.  So I have worked out an exercise plan for the next month.

Cycling - 80kms per week

Running - 60 mins per week

2 other exercise sessions a week

I am riding about 60kms just commuting to and from work, so need to add longer rides home or an extra ride.  The plan for running is to get myself up to a 5km run (nearly there) and do that on the weekends.  Thursday night I will have my Start Running Group.  And Tuesday night I am going to walk home from work and do a few sprints within the walk.  No other running, just a few 30 second sprints.  There is also one bridge I want to run up to start getting used to running up hills.  As for the other exercise sessions, they can be anything - swimming, yoga, football with the kids, boxing, hiking, whatever comes my way.

I have started reading the Intuitive Eating book and so far it has some good messages.  So as far as eating, I am going to start trying to listen to what my body needs, rather than what my head wants.  There is a difference, I just need to be able to identify it. 

Daily Goals

1)  Drink 1.5 L of water

2)  Add an extra few kms to my ride home

3)  Listen to my body with regards to food

4)  Relax tonight, and sit down and knit in front of the TV

5)  Try not to go insane at work considering I am the only one in the office today

Have a great day!

xox

100th Post!

It has only taken three and a half month to make it to 100 posts!  YAY!  Thank you to everyone for their support.

Just a quick one today.  I didn't quite meet my goals yesterday.  I didn't ride to drop of the Guide keys, because I didn't go to drop off the Guide Keys.  Ross has picked up some more temp work so I decided to take him out to dinner to celebrate.  We went to the Markets (fancy, I know) and stopped out our favourite vego place.  Ross ran into an old friend there which was cool.  We picked up the veggies for tonights dinner then rode home.  It was a great night.

I have been going really well with my food and exercise this week.  I feel a lot more focussed.  There has been a blip in there, but nothing too bad.  I really want to start shifting this weight again so hopefully I can stick with it this time.

I have decided on weekends to just set 5 goals for the whole weekend, so here goes.

Daily Goals
1)  Stick to my eating plan
2)  Drink my water
3)  Do some housework - I don't care what, I just need to do some
4)  Exercise.  May need to be indoors due to the heat, but I want to do something each day
5)  Knit another square

My daily goals don't seem to have a huge amount of variety at the moment.  But right now these are the things I need to be doing, so they are the goals.

Have a great weekend everyone!

xox